Our people
At Airtel Africa, our people are at the centre of everything we do
We continue to build a high-performing, values-led culture that provides development opportunities and supports ambition. By nurturing talent, promoting equality and investing in continuous development, we're creating a workforce equipped for the future.
Our long-standing commitments guide how we attract, support and develop talent across the organisation:
Together, these commitments create a workplace culture that values capability, integrity and collaboration – and enables our people to deliver excellent service to customers.
Ethical labour management is a material topic
We uphold the highest ethical labour management standards, ensuring fair treatment, competitive compensation and a safe work environment for all our people. In addition to transparent hiring and promotion policies, grievance and whistleblowing mechanisms and an ‘open door’ culture, we adhere to all national and international labour regulations.
1
Sustainable business performance begins with our people. We continue to build a high-performing, values-led culture where continuous learning and excellent execution drive results. Our focus on people ensures we remain resilient, competitive and create long-term value across our OpCos.”
2
Rogany Ramiah
Chief human resources officer
Our approach to HR management
We have a structured approach to people management designed to support long-term growth, organisational resilience and the effective management of workforce-related risks and opportunities.
Operating across 14 markets means navigating diverse labour environments, evolving regulatory requirements and increasing competition for skilled digital talent. During the reporting year, we continued to strengthen talent development, succession planning and leadership capability to ensure we have the skills required to support the next phase of growth. Where localised disruptions occurred, including extreme weather events in some markets, our business continuity planning and flexible working arrangements enabled us to sustain people-focused programmes without material impact on workforce stability.
Technology is also transforming the way we manage and support our people. We have expanded digital HR platforms, including ‘Airtel works’ and Salesforce mobile applications, to automate core processes such as recruitment, performance management, payroll and learning delivery. These tools enable management and frontline teams to connect in real time, improving efficiency and the employee experience.
AI-enabled tools support candidate screening, workforce analytics and personalised learning through our digital learning platform – Percipio, helping employees access development opportunities more easily while enabling our HR teams to focus on higher-value strategic work.
Workplace concerns are monitored and addressed through whistleblowing and grievance mechanisms, resolution tracking and feedback channels including town halls where our people are encouraged to put questions to our management teams. These reinforce a culture of accountability and continuous improvement. Our values – Alive, Inclusive and Respectful – underpin our approach to leadership, decision-making and employee engagement across all operating companies.
In 2025/26 our voluntary attrition rate was 8.2%, which is 2.2% lower than the previous year due to improved leadership visibility and employee engagement, focused capability development and market-specific remuneration interventions.
Governance
At Board level, several committees oversee HR matters. The Audit and Risk Committee (ARC) assesses risk and ensures issues arising from whistleblowing and anonymous feedback channels are closed. The Sustainability Committee provides oversight of gender balance, and health and safety. The Remuneration Committee reviews reward frameworks, gender balance-related KPIs and the alignment between people outcomes and performance objectives. The Nominations Committee oversees succession planning and leadership development.
Our 'Employee connect' sessions allow Board members to engage directly with employees across different regions, providing a regular channel for employees to share their perspectives with the highest level decision makers responsible for providing effective leadership of Airtel Africa. The HR Committee, operating at both Group and OpCo levels, meets quarterly to review policies, employee engagement and talent management. Regular meetings between the CEO and the chief HR officer ensure that workforce risks are monitored and addressed across the Group, with key metrics discussed at ExCo level.
Annual Group and OpCo talent councils focus on leadership development, succession planning and pipeline strength for critical and senior roles. Regular Ethics Committee meetings reinforce our commitment to ethical business conduct across the workforce.
All employees complete mandatory annual training on ethical standards, including anti-bribery and corruption (ABAC) and the Code of Conduct, to strengthen compliance and workplace integrity. Employee engagement surveys are conducted by Willis Towers Watson every two years. Our open-door policy and anonymous whistleblowing channel support our governance framework.
We measure performance through key metrics including gender balance, investment in training and development, employee engagement survey scores and health and safety indicators.
Remediating potential negative impact
We are committed to fostering a transparent, accountable and ethical workplace through a robust internal grievance resolution process. Employees can raise concerns confidentially or anonymously through our ombudsperson hotline and email. All concerns are acknowledged within 48 hours, with investigations conducted discreetly by HR, compliance, internal audit, finance and other relevant teams as necessary. We strictly prohibit retaliation against anyone who raises a concern and encourage open communication channels with the full support of the CEO.
We regularly review and amend our policies, implement preventive measures through the health and safety management system and offer employee assistance programmes for professional support with work-related issues. The effectiveness of our grievance mechanisms is measured through our open-door policy, employee engagement surveys and analysis of whistleblowing and grievance reports.
HR policies
Policy | Internal/external | Objective |
|---|---|---|
Equal opportunity statement | Internal and external | Reinforcing our commitment to diversity and inclusion |
Diversity and inclusion | Internal | Ensuring we’re an employer of choice with a diverse and inclusive environment and a culture of high performance, wellbeing, skills enhancement and coaching |
Grievance mechanism | Internal | Providing a structured approach to addressing employees’ concerns |
Health and safety policy | Internal | Promoting workplace wellbeing and injury prevention |
Occupational health and safety policy statement | External | Demonstrating our commitment to maintaining safety in the workplace |
Parental leave policy | Internal | Ensuring our people’s parental leave is aligned to national regulations |
Recruitment and selection policy | Internal | Ensuring a fair and merit-based hiring process |
Sexual harassment policy | Internal | Creating a safe working environment, free from harassment for all |
- For more information about our external policies, visit www.airtel.africa
Alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs)
Our people strategy is focused on building a fair, diverse and inclusive workplace. We empower colleagues to grow, develop and lead, while ensuring their rights, safety and wellbeing are respected across all our operations.
SDG 4: Quality education – By investing in training, digital capability and leadership development, we support our people to develop the skills required to thrive in an evolving digital economy. And through internship programmes, we contribute to broader workforce readiness and increased graduate employment opportunities.
SDG 5: Gender equality – We are committed to creating a fair and inclusive culture where everyone – regardless of gender – can develop their careers and reach their full potential. Our gender balance initiatives, inclusive hiring practices and leadership development programmes support women’s access to senior roles across the Group.
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth – Our mobile and financial services drive entrepreneurship and enable informal and small businesses to flourish. Across our operations, we prioritise local hiring and skills development, offering meaningful employment opportunities and supporting economic progress in the communities we serve.
GRI framework
GRI 2-7 Employees
GRI 2-25 Processes to remediate negative impact
GRI 2-26 Mechanisms for seeking advice and raising concerns
GRI 2-30 Collective bargaining agreements
GRI 401-1 New employees hires and employee turnover
GRI 401-3 Parental leave
GRI 407-1 Operations and suppliers in which the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining may be at risk
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
25.8%
gender balance in our leadership in 14 OpCos
(28.5% in 2024/25)
36.3%
gender balance of our Board members
(25% in 2024/25)
$2.23m
total investment into training and development programmes
($1.86m in 2024/25)
655,907
total learning hours in 2025/26
(+54% vs 2024/25)
39
nationalities in our workforce
(40 in 2024/25)
0.51
total recordable injury frequency rate (TRIFR)
(0.53 in 2024/25)